Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 221, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1910 — TALLS OF GOTHAM AND OTHER CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TALLS OF GOTHAM AND OTHER CITIES

{ Light Keeper Who Died for Uncle Sam

W s ST:- f \T±~ pkETROIT. —The Dig lighthouse at 1/ Windmill Point Is sending out Its warning to lake mariners every night, as It has for many years past, but no more does Capt Edward Chambers big lamp that fgr two years has been hit ear? He died recently. With the passing of Caplain Chambers, or “Captain Ed,” as he was known among the Takelarlng people, one of the most picturesque figures of the great lakes Is taken. His was a strenuous life, given almost entirely to the caring sos- lighthouses. t He was bom on Mackinac island in 1852. When he went to work it was tor the government, as mall carrier from Mackinac City on the mainland to the island. In summer this is a simple task. But in the winter it is different. The storms that sweep the lakes in the Cold months find a clear passage in the Straits of Mackinac, and sometimes traveling over the ice Is Impossible. It takes a strong and resolute man to face theste storms

and carry the mail to the beleaguered islanders. Such a man was “Captain Ed.” No day was too cold or wind too strong to keep bite at home. .Since entering the lighthouse service “Captain Ed” had some of the most arduous assignments Uncle Sam’j3 men get. For 12 years he was in charge of the lighthouse on Stannard rock, in Lake Superior. This is the farthest frgm land of any light the government p6gB«&SS3, EM In? cause of the storms in the spring and fall furnishes about the hardest work, it stands on the top of a submerged mountain, which Is only six feet below the surface. Many boats had been wrecked on the rock before the government established the light There are eight months of each of these 12 years Captain Chambers and three assistants lived in the lighthouse, practically cut off from the rest of the world except for the occasional visits of the supply boat At one time, because of storms, this boat did not reach the lighthouse for three months. Captain Chambers was In charge of the following lighthouses during his service: Waugoschance, three years; Iroquois, In Lake Superior, nine years, and Spectacle Reef,'in upper Lake Huron, six years.